The Impressive View From the Top of Haleakala!

I woke up early to make way to the top of Haleakala. It is just over 10700 feet high. Google maps said it would take 2:15 from Ka’anapali area to the top summit. At 2:30 in the morning, it took me only 1.5 hours. It was freezing at the top. At one point toward the sunrise, my hand was so cold from doing manual bracketing, that it was shaking uncontrollably. I think it was 44F with a 10mph wind chill. On the way back it took me a little more time because it was about 6-7am and the locals were making their way to work.

I wanted to get there early to try to capture the milky way. I did get a decent shot until I was told off by the park ranger not to be over the look out “balcony.” I had the camera literally pointing straight up:

The moon rise was about 4:30am this morning. It was a very narrow sliver. It was orange color when it first rose because there was a fire near the airport where it was assumed they were burning sugar cane fields to clear them. Here is one of my favorites of the morning because I caught several cars coming up the hill, the changing colors of the sunrise, and that little dot is the moon:

As the sun began to rise, the stars began to disappear.

Panoramic version of another image:

As people made their way to their cars, I turned around and saw the light hitting these observatory structures in the background:

In the end, it was well worth it to wake up early. The early bird gets the worm!!!